Under the Microscope

More and more companies, especially in the media, are trying to find new ways to attract millennials. And one former University of Missouri student is going directly to the source with her new journalism tech start-up, run by and for millennials.

MU Professor James Mann recently completed research that sheds more light on what we know about football injuries. The data was collected from the 2011 Missouri Tigers football team and reveals a new correlation between academic stress and football injuries.

The population of monarch butterflies has declined so dramatically in recent years that the iconic insect is being considered for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list . In Nebraska and across the other areas of the Midwest, a stop on the monarch migration route, efforts are underway to determine the scope of the decline.

The circuit science workshop in Columbia is one of Daniel Boone Regional Library’s most popular regular events for kids. The workshop allows elementary school-aged children to play with Snap Circuits, a hands-on learning kit that helps illustrate how electricity works. On a recent fall afternoon, kids and their parents gathered at the library to make musical motion detectors, sound-activated switches and more. “Programming like this is more free-form, so they can be very creative,” said Katie Long, a public service associate with the library’s children’s team. “There’s less structure and rules that they have to follow.”

From Friday night football games to Saturday volleyball matches, a new figure is taking a spot on the sidelines. According to a 2015 study by the Korey Stringer Institute, 70 percent of public secondary schools nationwide have access to an athletic trainer. That total is up from 1994 when only 35 percent of high schools reported having access to an athletic trainer.

Research shows that the Earth’s warming climate can have a massive impact on many parts of the ecosystem, from the ocean down to the tiny bee. Recently, bees have been dying in increasing numbers due to environmental changes. Some sub-species, however, seem to be putting up a better fight than others.

It’s a clear Wednesday night, and visitors on top of the University of Missouri’s Physics Building are playing the waiting game. A solar flare is about to appear in the night sky and everyone’s heads are craned upwards. Suddenly, a satellite moves across the sky, becoming brighter and causing spectators to cheer. Although there isn’t always a satellite passing by, visitors can take advantage of the Laws Observatory’s rooftop view and telescope every Wednesday night from 8 to 10 p.m.

Generations of tilling and planting on the same land have left the nation’s soil in poor shape. And if farmers don’t change the way they grow crops, feeding the future won’t be easy. As farmer Jordan Shearer from Slapout, Okla., puts it, “we’re creating a desert environment by plowing the damn ground."

Researchers from the University of Missouri are working with the Missouri Department of Conservation on a five-year study of white-tailed deer in the state. The study's goal is to find the survival differences of deer living in north east counties compared to south central counties. The team of researchers are tracking the movements of deer using GPS collars in Nodaway , Gentry, Andrew, DeKalb, Wright, Texas, Douglas and Howell counties. Once the study is over, the Department of Conservation will use the data to reevaluate deer population management through strategies like hunting. KBIA's Michaela Tucker spoke with Jon McRoberts, the project coordinator and wildlife researcher at the University of Missouri, about the progress of the study as it approaches the end of its first year.

Farmers and agriculture officials are gearing up for another round of bird flu this fall, an outbreak they fear could be worse than the devastating spring crisis that hit turkeys and egg-laying hens in the Midwest, wiped out entire farms and sent egg prices sky-high. The potential target of the highly pathogenic avian flu this fall could be broilers, or meat chickens, as the outbreaks have been triggered and carried by wild birds, which will be flying south in great numbers this fall through several U.S. flyways.

One Saturday afternoon at a backyard cookout, St. Louis architect Dan Rosenberg enjoyed a cheeseburger – a food he’d enjoyed many times before. That night, a couple hours after he went to sleep, he woke up with a searing pain in his stomach. “Let’s be clear here,” Rosenberg says, “this was like a nine on the ten-scale.”

A year ago Missouri Gov . Jay Nixon signed HB 2040 into law , allowing law enforcement officers and certified firefighters to carry and administer naloxone , the opiate overdose antidote. Naloxone, or Narcan as it’s sometimes called, instantly reverses an overdose . And while the law has been in an effect for over a year, Missouri law enforcement agencies have not begun to use the drug.

Ethanol is one of the most important industries in the Midwest, and it’s an industry about to change. The U.S. EPA says that by June 1 it will propose new targets for the Renewable Fuel Standard , or RFS, which dictates the amount of ethanol the oil industry has to blend into our gasoline.

McDonald County, Missouri, is home to many immigrant groups that have moved into the county in the last twenty years. These groups include Hispanic, Somali, Burmese, Sudanese and numerous others. And while these groups do not overlap culturally, they do share one thing - language acts as a barrier to access when it comes to their health.

Pippa Hull sits on her mother’s lap across the kitchen table in their Parkville home. She is an outgoing and talkative seven-year-old girl, who just happens to have a rare and severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Pippa’s mother, Megan, said this form of epilepsy is characterized by its lack of response to treatments. Hull said they have tried different medications, they have had a VNS or Vagus Nerve Stimulation device implanted in Pippa’s chest, and they have even tried a special diet to try and reduce the number of seizures Pippa experiences.

On this week's edition of Under the Microscope, we'll be taking a look at the new drone flight regulations proposed by The Federal Aviation Administration. While the rules may limit some commercial potential for drones to be used in package delivery and pipeline inspection , many other industries are finding the new technology to be extremely lucrative, especially agricultural ones. Harvest Public Media's Luke Runyon explores how the potential guidelines could " usher in a new era of farm machinery. "

Landscape diversity in Missouri has changed since its settlement in the 18th century. Where there was once prairies, forests and savannahs, in many cases there are now towns, cities and farms. The Missouri Department of Conservation is working to remedy this problem by restoring prairies to “pre-settlement standards.” These standards include no non-native plant species and plants from within a 50 mile radius of the prairie.

On this week's Under the Microscope, scientists have noticed a change in the atmosphere.

On this week's Under the Microscope, farmed fish may soon have a certified organic alternative.

Hemp is grown throughout the world for its oil and fiber, which show up in everything from beauty products to rope.